For Better and For Worse
by Ladybug-Jojo
Summary: Can Alicia and Peter's marriage ever completly recover with everything that has happen. Can they ever deal with everything a find a way back to each other? The story is inspired by the first promo that was out a month ago and the itunes decription of season for so small spoilers for those two things. Rating is T at the moment but I am not sure if it will change later on.
1. P1: Commitments: Alicia's memories nr 1

_Okay this story came to me after watching the first season 4 promo and reading the description of season 4 from Itunes. It includes spoilers for both things, so if you don't want those, stay away from this. However the spoilers are not that big and has more to do with my dream of what they could lead to. Which is also why it is important that the prologue and chapter one was published before the premiere tomorrow._

_I don't own anything related to the Good Wife even though I wish I did. _

**For Better And For Worse**

Part 1: **Commitments**

**"_It __is __the __purpose __that __makes __strong __the __vow;  
But __vows __to __every __purpose __must __not __hold_**_**"** _

(Shakespear:Troilus and Cressida act 5, scene. 3)

**Memory of Alicia nr. 1**

I had never felt happier than that moment when my eyes met his through the veil. I didn't notice another thing around me from that second, after all it really was all that mattered _-the two of us._

It didn't matter that we got this ridiculous expensive affair of a wedding because his mother wanted at least 300 of her closest friends as our guests. (It ended up being 437 not included the small number of people containing Peters and my friends and my family). _Even though I personally would have preferred a far smaller affair_. One he offered to give me by eloping, if I preferred it over this. I actually did, and the thought of running away with him and marrying privately in Paris or some tropical island far away from wedding drama, was more than a little tempting and appealing, as well as rather romantic. However I knew how his mother, Jackie, would have reacted afterwards (and we were already not the best of friends so I am pretty sure she would have been convinced I was the one who let him into the dangers of temptation). The irony was that his father had actually offered to marry us privately if we preferred. I guess that was the perks of having a judge as a future father-in-law.

However in the end I gave into the big white wedding with all of those 500 guests where I was lucky if I knew more than 100. I gave in because it really didn't matter that much to me and him, as it seemed to do to Jackie. Plus she was already having a freak out over the place we were to live, when we returned from our honeymoon in Rome. A small apartment on 81st, perfect to him and me, and a "scandal" according to her. It was so "bad" she even offered us to move into the grand mansion of hers. So I better give into the wedding before I had to live side by side with my future mother-in-law. And it didn't matter in the end, after all what I wanted was the marriage to Peter, everything else didn't matter. And that was real truth, because from the moment I felt his eyes lock at me, and saw the happiness in them, everything else was forgotten.

The fact that Owen was rather grumpy before guiding me down the aisle, (to say that him and Peter didn't get along would have been an understatement), was without any meaning to me in that moment. Neither did it matter that I had been sad earlier that my father wasn't with us this day to give me away. Though he would probably have been the only one real happy for me on my side of the family. He would have liked that I married Peter, I am sure he would. After all Peter had been his protégé_, __his __mentee. __My_father, who had passed away the month before I met Peter, and was the direct reason I still met the man I would be spending the rest of my life with. But he would never know it. He would never know that him hiring Peter as a new junior associate, eventhough his partner didn't agree,was what led me to the love of my life, my soul-mate. My father who really should have been here on this day. On the other hand would this day be here if he was still alive? Would I still have met and connected with Peter like that, if it was not for all of those hours spend together with him helping me pack down first my father's office and later the apartment. Would he even have thought of inviting me out if my father was still alive? After all it wasn't the easiest to date the daughter of your boss. No, I couldn't think like that. All that matters was that here we were Peter and me, promising to spend the rest of our lives together.

In this moment it really was just the two of us, almost soaring high like we were in the middle of the universe with only the stars surrounding us. Not unlike the stars I saw in his eyes, as he stepped forward to take my hand. Stars I was sure were shinning in my own as well.

His eyes and smile really were all I saw for the rest of the ceremony.

I knew the priest was speaking, but I would never know exactly what he talked about.I mean I knew read the part of 's letter about love, because Peter had asked for that to happen. And I did notice how Peter said the words with him, almost vowing them to me, when he got to the part with the words:

_"Love is patient, love is kind._  
_It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud._  
_It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,_  
_it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs._  
_Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth._  
_It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."_

I am not sure why he knew them so well, neither did I know how ironic those words would seem in a far away future. All I knew was in that moment I was completely sure he meant them and that was why he had been so persistent with the text being the second reading, no matter what the priest or his mother had said.

The smile upon his lips as he whispered the last words of the paragraph with the priest as well, told me everything I could ever dream of: How much he loved me right now.

_"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love._  
_But the greatest of these is love."_

I got lost once more in his eyes, knowing that the priest was continuing and a tone point did realize he started the questioning part. I tried to concentrate, listening to Peter's vows:

_"I Peter Alexander, take you Alicia Scarlett, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us apart. And here to I pledge you my faithfulness."_

I felt the tears already beaming in my eyes slip down my cheeks as I heard his vows to me. His voice was so tender and yet so strong, never once wavering. I knew the priest was asking me to say the same words. I knew it eventhough, I couldn't hear a word of what he said because of the blood thundering in my ears or may be it was the sound of my heart beat I was not completely sure. However I did repeat the words:

_"I, Alicia Scarlett, take you Peter Alexander, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'till death do us part. And here to I pledge you my faithfulness."_

I knew the next thing was the rings. Though it was only because of the millions of times we had gone over it the days before with the priest and with Jackie. However it felt as I forgot to breath for a moment when Peter slipped the ring onto my finger letting it rest against my engagement ring before he gave my hand a light squeeze. I took the ring handed to me and placed it carefully on Peter's finger with the same words I knew he had said just a minute before.

_"With this ring I pledge myself to thee, with all the affections of my heart so long as we both shall live."_

**Once more I was unknowing on how much those words would me in the future for both of us. Just like it was with the words of the reading and the vows of love already exchanged between us. Vows where we promised for better and for worse and pledged our faithfulness to each other. It was probably a good thing I didn't know as well, because I am pretty sure I might have run off without giving any vows, if I had known about the future a head of us. But as I didn't know any of this, it was the single most perfect moment of my life, later only surpassed by the birth of Zach and Grace.**

I heard the priest tell Peter, how he may kiss the bride. Peter took a step closer to me, and carefully lifted the veil away from my face before he cupped my cheeks. I was more than a little relieved that I saw tears in his eyes and cheeks as well, because he would never have let me live it down in the future if I was the only one crying on our wedding day. He brushed a tear of mine away before lowering his lips and giving me our first kiss as husband and wife. I smiled into the kiss, even more so when I realized I could still taste a bit of the toothpaste on his lips, it was so like him. _Spearmint and Peter, the perfect first kiss in my new wedlock._

He pulled back and gave me a smile while he whispered that he loved me. At the same time as I heard the priest speak again:

_"Ladies and Gentlemen; May I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Florrick"_


	2. Chap 1: The politics of Marriage

_Okay this story came to me after watching the first season 4 promo and reading the description of season 4 from Itunes. It includes spoilers for both things, so if you don't want those, stay away from this. However the spoilers are not that big and has more to do with my dream of what they could lead to. Which is also why it is important that the prologue and chapter one was published before the premiere tomorrow._

_And you are getting two chapters right away because the prologue might make you think the story is a fluffy one, but it is not.  
_

_I don't own anything related to the Good Wife even though I wish I did. _

**Part 1: Commitments **

_Chapter 1: **The Politics of Marriage**  
_

Only two weeks ago before she had been sitting there in the open office space, on a black leather chair, trying to stay completely composed and collected, while, allowing the political journalist Peggy Byrne to interview her. Staying calm through, that had been hard. She didn't enjoy having to do the interview at all. However she needed to do it. Peter having made their separation public knowledge, had hit his campaign hard. Eli believed that if they both agreed to talk to Peggy instead of just letting her roam around on her own, digging dirt up on their marriage, it could perhaps work as damage control, and at least avoiding the risk of any further damage. And because Alicia had promised, him and Peter, she would help with the campaign there wasn't much of choice left with whatever or not to do this.  
She had been the complete portrait of calmness; though her inside were almost screaming. She had tried to avoid any hand gesture or other _tell,_ of how awkward she found this. She had even avoided picking of invisible hairs on her back skirt, though she was close a few times. It had been far harder than she had imagined: sitting there talking about how she had committed to something, _her __marriage_, and how she didn't like to break her vows, which was the reason she was staying with Peter. All of that were true, she really didn't like breaking her promises and she never had. In addition to that, did she hate being asked the same question, by this stranger, everyone else had asked her over the years. However her answer, that was only part of the truth. A truth she had not even fully accepted herself.

Alicia had been incredible happy in that moment, that the office space for once was surprisingly quiet and not like it's usually busy self. She would have hated others having observed her giving the interview. Plus the tranquility kept her from being distracted by work, which could easily have happened otherwise. After all work was safe. It had been her hide-out for the last couple of years, and it would have been no exception at that point, if her surroundings had been like usual, with people running around like ants all the time. The journalist however had gone on further and asked her why that was the case, since Peter had broken his by cheating on her. Her answer to that had been a definitive one:"Yes, but I still won't break mine to him". Once more it was not the full answer, but it was the only one she could think of giving the probing journalist. And she did mean it, in the sense that she had no intention of a divorce right now. They might be separated, living their own individual lives, but she also knew she as a key factor in his gubernatorial campaign. And she did wish for him to win the race. So she had no divorce planned at the moment.

When the article had come out a week ago Eli had a hard time hiding his excitement. She noticed how he had been smiling like a crazy while he kept an eye on her all morning as she came into work. She hadn't read it in the paper before work, unlike everyone else seemed to have. As the day had gone on and she kept getting weird looks from everyone, she gave up and asked Eli what it was all about. He had been quick to pass her the paper with a smile, and he kept watching her closely- _much __to __her __annoyance,_ as she read. She had felt a weird clenching sensation in her stomach as she read the other part of the interview. The part done with Peter. He had spoken about how they had met and fallen in love, and been together for a year and half before he proposed. How they had gotten married right after she finished law school and moved to Chicago. He had even shared the memory of them in their apartment, over the Mexican restaurant, to illustrate how happy they once were, with not a care in the world, except each other. He also talked about how he had gotten too caught up in his job as the state's attorney and how that had lead him to forgetting and abandoning his family, including her, more and more. He had been incredible honest in the interview, to a degree that shocked and impressed her at the same time. He had said he took the responsibility for what had happened between them. Told how he fully admitted that he had been a fool, since he had been the one to take her for granted and never thinking about how something like this would affect them at one point. What really shocked her, had been how he in the interview voices how grateful he was that she hadn't divorced him right away, like most women would.

After she had finished reading it and looked up, she had seen how much Eli wanted a reaction from her side. She had however given him her perfected poker face, raised and eyebrow at him and handed him the paper back before leaving his office. He had asked her to stay, telling her they should talk about what would be needed in the upcoming weeks. She had told him she had work to do, and would get back to him. Something she had avoided ever since. Each time Eli tried to approach her with it, she had been busy. At least the financial troubles the firm was facing and the cut downs, had been good for one thing: she really was incredible busy. The struggle had given her a new unexpected position. People now really wanted her on their cases and to be a part of new incoming cases, because she was the Stat's Attorney's wife, maybe even the future governor's wife, and that seemed to give her more power. So she really could say she was too busy with work to sit down with Eli to talk about the campaign.

Zach and Grace, had looked just as curious as she came home the day of the article. However again all she gave was her perfect poker face. And they were smart enough not ask what she thought.

She had been more than a little grateful that she had been able to avoid Peter since that paper had come out. It was not as much what he alone had said in the interview, and her feelings related to those things. It was more the fact that: they had both said thing in it, and how much of those things that had been a set up for the press, in the name of helping him become governor and how much had been the actual truth about their relationship and feelings for each other. If it really was the truth it scared her far more than she would have liked. And she couldn't deal with that. So she avoided.

However all of that was in the past now. Here she was sitting at home, Saturday morning, with her coffee and yet another article about her marriage. All on page 3 of the morning paper though it looked far more like it belonged in the gossip section to Alicia. An article that showed a completely different side than what they had both individually portrayed in the original interview. The article was certainly a bad thing, that was easy to read just from the title alone:

"**The ****Florrick's:** **Only ****a ****Political ****Marriage!****"**

_**The ****secret ****behind ****the ****Florrick's** **Marriage ****is ****that ****they ****have ****been ****having ****a ****modern ****so ****called:**** "****open ****marriage****"****! ****Part ****1 ****of ****2. By Peggy Byrne**_

It was builtover an interview with a younger woman working at Peter's campaign. She explained how Peter and she had been dating and sleeping together for months now. It had explanations on how they were involved, even though they kept it a secret to the public.

The article also included interviews with three married couples living in open marriages and their view on the fact, that the famous Florrick couple seemed to have entered into such a marriage: One of the couples were advising other couples to try it, and thought it was good that even politicians were modern enough to understand that monogamy was not necessary a human nature, as we were animals, and were meant to spread our seed around. They actually hoped that the Florricks would come forward and tell others about this choice and how liberating it felt. Another explained how it could course some jealousy between them if they were not careful. They had not been as supportive as the first couple, on that "The Florricks" had entered into such an arrangement, as they thought in this case it more showed an ambivalence if they should stay together or not than a actually choice of a new lifestyle, plus they were separated so it wasn't really a open marriage. The last couple had said that they actually thought it was "the Florricks" own private matter what the rules for their marriage were. If they were in a open marriage and wanted it fine but it was their own private affairs and choices not others. It was what they told their friends that didn't understand their own arrangement.

There was also an interview with some kind of relationship expert talking about how you couldn't really call the Florrick marriage an open one since they were separated, on the other hand, since it seemed that they were both committed to stay in the marriage, proven by the latest interview with them, it would seem as it was more a political marriage now than one build on romantic love. One that was kept for furthering Peter's career.

In the end there were a couple of lines raising questions to the reader of the newspaper: About what they thought of this: If it was right for a politician to have such an arrangement, or if they were supposed to have a higher moral than others and therefor not be involved in such arrangements as an open marriage.

The last line of the article was about how this was only part one of two and how tomorrow's paper would feature the second part. This time it would focus on why a women might agree to such an arrangement as well's as the untold part of Mrs. Florrick's story.

Alicia felt her stomach clench again,_ just like with the first article,_ and wasn't completely sure how she was going to keep her breakfast down after what she had read. Once again her marriage was involved in a sex scandal and once again she could be sure to be the center of the media frenzy. But that wasn't what really made her stomach turn. She did feel sick over the fact that Peter had been with yet another women behind her back, but could she really judge she had been with Will. However what really frightened her was the fact that she was more than a little sure that tomorrow's paper would include the story of her own tête-à-tête with Will and that made her want to run and hide.

She carefully closed the paper, swallowed a few times, while realizing how relieved she was it was Saturday, and the kids were not with her. Also it meant that she wouldn't have to go into work, and meet the pity, or judgment in the eyes of her colleagues. However she still knew the day would be a hell, a lot like the day the real scandal had broken. She knew that for the upcoming weeks, months even, she would keep seeing this article all over the news and everyone would keep looking at her in their own weird way. She was once again the center of the local medias, with a big chance of it not even staying local, _like __it __mostly __had __the __last __few __years_, except for during the original scandal and Peter being forced to step down. No, Peter was running for the position of governor of Illinois this time and was no longer just Cook County's stat's attorney. It really would be hell all over for her once more, that was something she knew for sure and she hated it already.


End file.
